1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having a user authentication function and a bulletin board function.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image processing apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 4124930 supports a bulletin board function of displaying, on a display unit, message information received from outside of the apparatus. Using this function enables the display of a predetermined message on the operation screen and allows the user to be notified of, for example, the timing of maintenance of the image processing apparatus. Some image processing apparatuses support an authentication function of performing user authentication and display a waiting screen for user authentication.
However, the related art has problems, to be described below. In the related art, the bulletin board function and the authentication function are independent functions. When the user is caused to confirm a message by the bulletin board function at the timing of authentication processing, operability is reduced. For example, to display the authentication screen after the bulletin board has been closed, an operation to display the authentication screen before the authentication operation is necessary, resulting in reduced operability. When displaying the bulletin board after authentication processing, too, an operation corresponding to one screen is needed before the normal operation, and again operability is reduced.
User authentication includes, for example, IC card authentication that requires no operation via the display screen. When the user is caused to confirm a message by the bulletin board function at the timing of authentication using an IC card, a possibility for confirming the message on the bulletin board by the user is very low.